# The Units made synthpunk before it had a name

> A 1980 San Francisco record found through a broken website still sounds like it came out last year.
- Title: The Units made synthpunk before it had a name · The Verge
- Summary: A 1980 San Francisco record found through a broken website still sounds like it came out last year. Digital Stimulation is the rare 1980 punk record that…
- Keywords: synthpunk, music, punk, 1980s, bay area, technology, culture, Units, made, name, The Verge
- Source: The Verge — https://theverge.com/entertainment/994415/the-units-digital-stimulation-synthpunk-review
- Author: Terrence O'Brien
- Published: 2026-09-13T17:36:10+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: synthpunk, music, punk, 1980s, bay area, technology, culture
## Found through a dead link
A podcast miniseries on The Screamers name-dropped synthpunk.org as a source. The site was down, so the Wayback Machine did the honours.

> The site was down that day (it appears to be back up now), but I was able to access a version from July through the Wayback Machine.
## Six bands, one name
The archived page was bare bones: links to six bands. At the top sat The Units, and their 1980 album Digital Stimulation.
## Dated vocals, modern everything else
The Devo-ish vocal production pins it to 1980. The arrangements do not. Opener "High Pressure" could pass for an MSPAINT track today.

> Ignoring the vocals, album opener "High Pressure" could pass as an MSPAINT song.
## Three decades early
The title track's sped-up disco stomp sounds like a DFA release from 2003. Later tracks would sit comfortably on a Single Frame record.
## Not the first, but sharper
Talking Heads did a cleaner, artier punk with keyboards and tape loops. Devo had the edge but kept guitar and bass front and centre.
## Punk roots, keyboard body
Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber wrote from inside the West Coast DIY scene, alongside the Dead Kennedys and The Avengers. Lean arrangements, energy over polish.

> Their bleak, slightly humorous critiques of an uncaring world are models of efficiency.
## The sequel sat for 35 years
A second album, Animals They Dream About, was recorded in 1981 and shelved until 2016. It is more polished, poppier, and further from the punk roots.
## Key takeaway

Digital Stimulation is the rare 1980 punk record that swapped guitars for synths without losing the raw energy, and it still sounds current.